Local autistic student suspended for drawing of a bomb

At left: Rhett Parham, student suspended from Hillcrest Middle School.
















On our radio show today, we interviewed Amy Parham, mother of 13-year-old Rhett Parham, who has been suspended from Hillcrest Middle School in Simpsonville, SC, for drawing a picture of a bomb.

Rhett has autism and greatly enjoys drawing pictures. His picture is based on one of his favorite video games, Bomberman 64, a Nintendo game from the 90s. He watches it on YouTube and likes to draw what he sees. Amy told us, "I am not fully believing that this is actually happening." Certainly, she isn't the only one, and supporters all over upstate South Carolina have come to Rhett's defense. She and Rhett have been interviewed by WSPA, FoxCarolina, and several other radio shows besides ours.

Apparently, Rhett told other students he "had a bomb"--when he was referring to the picture. People with autism are often very "literal-minded" and to Rhett, having the picture and "having a bomb" are synonymous, said his mother.

WSPA reports:

Rhett, who has autism, got suspended from Hillcrest Middle School in Simpsonville on Monday for telling people he had a bomb and showing them a drawing based on the video game.

“I said, 'Are you kidding me?'" said his mother Amy Parham.

Parham said her son poses no threat and is not capable of actually making a bomb.

“I don't really think he understands the brevity of this whole situation because of his disability.”

Greenville County Schools denied 7 On Your Side’s request for an on-camera interview, but sent us a statement that reads in part: “This investigation began when threatening comments were made, resulting in the responsible removal of the student from the school to ensure everyone's safety while the incident and intent were assessed.”

"Principals are in a very difficult spot with this. They have a lot of interests that they're trying to juggle," said Janet Stein, Director of the South Carolina Education Association's member advocacy program.

Stein used to do crisis prevention training for North Carolina schools.

She said Hillcrest Middle's Principal did what he had to do in order to protect the school and its students.

“If he had not done what he did and had decided that student didn't mean it, it doesn't mean anything -- if something had happened, the district would have been accountable for that," said Stein.

Parham said she's looking into whether she should transfer her son to a different school, but Rhett said he wants to stay at Hillcrest Middle.

Tomorrow there will be a "manifestation hearing" to determine if Rhett's behavior was caused by his disability. If the school decides that it was not, Rhett can face disciplinary action and the suspension may be permanent.

And here is the bomb drawing (below), which looks like one of the many bombs thrown by Wile E. Coyote in the cartoons:

If you would like to help out, contact Greenville County Schools superintendent W. Burke Royster and let him know how you feel.
Telephone: 864-355-8860
e-mail: wroyster@greenville.k12.sc.us

Amy Parham is now using the bomb-picture as her Facebook profile picture, as are many of her supporters.

~*~

EDIT AND UPDATE 10/16/2013: Rhett Parham's suspension has been lifted and his absences excused by the county. GREAT NEWS! What I have learned from this: how crucial it is for parents of disabled students to have a support network in place before these types of incidents occur. Amy was able to get the word out quickly to activists like Traci Fant ((waves at Traci!)) who was on our show today.

We are glad we were able to help out, and thanks to everyone else who participated, reblogged, gave us a +1 on Google and all of that stuff. (((hugs)))

It really does take a village.

Asperger's Quiz

Aspie-Quiz: The goal of this test is to give a reliable indication of autism spectrum traits in adults.

My results are below. You can click to enlarge. (Are they accusing me of HUNTING?!)

Logged in as DaisyDeadhead

Thank you for filling out this questionnaire.
Your Aspie score: 33 of 200
Your neurotypical (non-autistic) score: 175 of 200
You are very likely neurotypical

The static hurts my ears

As stated in previous comments, I don't know from tumblr, despite various net-savvy people attempting to explain it's sacred mysteries to me. Therefore, I couldn't respond to the latest charges being lodged. So, I will have to do it here.

For the record, I'd really rather not, but it does appear necessary, at this point. (sigh)

This is from the tumblr blog The View From My Brain:

I didn’t read the post when you linked it before, so I didn’t realise who it was. Daisy Deadhead of Daisy’s Dead Air is a hateful bigoted and privileged asshat.

She is the feminist who literally told me to go die, because my coping methods for my autism issues were not approved by her holy vegan standards. And she did this in a discussion about something completely irrelevant, rather than on the post where my coping method was actually mentioned.

Good God, yall.

I have no idea at all what this refers to. I do not know Jemima Aslana, although I have seen her name before. I have never interacted with her, although I think she may have commented here once or twice. I have commented (in the past) on lots of blogs, but as stated above, have not figured out how to "do" tumblr and Aslana's blog is a tumblr blog. So the comments she refers to could not have been made on her blog. I'd like to know where this (mythical) exchange took place?

As regular readers know, I am not vegan and could not live more than 72 hrs (at most) without cheese--preferably smoked gouda or Tillamook aged cheddar. I think she has me confused with someone else.

Further, "literally" telling people to "go die"--that just isn't me. That is somewhat ungrammatical and unpoetic; I am more likely to quote Lou Reed, "I'm just waiting for [them/you] to hurry up and die," which I've been saying since the release of Sally Can't Dance. Old habits die hard. (I have never quite broken the habit of saying "far out" in, well, far out circumstances.) Simply put, I am not a person who tells people to go die, all while upholding holy vegan standards I don't have.

Of course, Jemima Aslana didn't bother to link to this very incendiary accusation. She was so eager to join the junior-high-school pile-on, she couldn't be bothered to check the facts. And said pile-on does get ugly, as I am enthusiastically called a "total shithead" and suchlike, by people who have never met me... including an individual I once foolishly complimented for their writing. (For some reason, I especially feel like the archetypal dumb hillbilly when someone I have lavishly complimented turns on me.)

As for the other spin-offs from spin-offs from Tweets and Twats and alllll the rest? I can't keep up. It all started here, but I am now getting links from strange corners of tumblrville and beyond. It's like that child's game "Telephone"--now they are writing about the writing about the writing about me, not writing about what I exactly wrote. If that makes sense. This is why I decided to address Jemima's accusation, since it seems to have taken on a life of its own and is getting repeated even more than anything I wrote on Renee's blog [Womanist Musings].

And it simply isn't true.

But I saved the best for last! Jemima's last paragraph:

Believe me, sweetheart, you aren’t getting anywhere with Daisy. She will first derail and if that doesn’t work for then she will assault your mental health until you become suicidal. I advise you to pull out now, because it can never end well with her. Never.

Jemima darlin, I have to say, that paragraph is one of the most bad-ass things ever written about me, and I love it! Thank you!!!

Am I a bad bitch or what?! ((((preens))))

My mother (who would have happily slit all their tires by now) would be so proud of me. Seriously, I wish she had lived long enough for me to read that paragraph to her, since she often considered me a silly, bubbleheaded peacenik and believed I let people walk all over me. Wouldn't she be thrilled to learn that the apple didn't fall far from the tree?

I must end here, on a decidedly positive note. :)

~*~

When the world is running down - The Police



turn on the radio
the static hurts my ears
tell me where would I go?
I ain't been out in years
turn on the stereo
it's played for years and years
an Otis Redding song
it's all I own

when the world is running down
you make the best of what's still around

Stalemate and ADD

I keep drawing the Two of Swords, which I can't figure out. I've never drawn it for myself until lately. The problem with attempting to read one's own tarot (or be one's own therapist!) is that you simply can't figure out this stuff for yourself, just as we can't always figure out we don't look good in certain clothes we love anyway. No objectivity!

And it doesn't help that many of the tarot-experts and sources can't agree on the card's meanings. Hm.

I choose the meaning I think is most likely: Stalemate. I am stalemated. At least I know that much.

However, if I am indeed lying to myself (one of the meanings of the Two of Swords), how could I know what the card means? Obviously, I am already in denial, and that means I don't have a clue.

She really needs to take off the blindfold!

~*~

Speaking of blindfolds (how's that for a segue?), Chaos is Normal posted FTY: Students, which included an excerpt from a bang-up interview (by Amy Goodman) of one Canadian Dr Gabor Maté. This incisive excerpt sent me over to Democracy Now to listen to the whole show, titled Dr. Gabor Maté on the Stress-Disease Connection, Addiction, Attention Deficit Disorder and the Destruction of American Childhood. Highly recommended!

I hear about ADD every day, as my customer-parents attempt to deal, often buying supplements for their children. I hear all about the endless "symptoms"--which so often to me, sound like, well, just being a child. When did simple childhood become a disease?

I didn't grow up hearing about ADD, which also fascinates me. Is this some "new and improved" diagnosis, in that case? If so, is our culture to blame for stigmatizing certain behaviors? And as with autism, are those same behaviors possibly 'rewarded' elsewhere? (i.e. the preponderance of autism in the Silicon Valley) Dr Gabor Maté believes actual brain development in children has markedly changed over the last generation or so, due to our radical changes in culture. (I have often believed this about addiction, so when somebody with smarts comes out and backs me up, I am thrilled.)

Quotes from Dr Maté I found especially pertinent:

In the United States right now, there are three million children receiving stimulant medications for ADHD... Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. And there are about half-a-million kids in this country receiving heavy-duty anti-psychotic medications, medications such as are usually given to adult schizophrenics to regulate their hallucinations. But in this case, children are getting it to control their behavior. So what we have is a massive social experiment of the chemical control of children’s behavior, with no idea of the long-term consequences of these heavy-duty anti-psychotics on kids.

And I know that Canadians statistics just last week showed that within last five years, 43—there’s been a 43 percent increase in the rate of dispensing of stimulant prescriptions for ADD or ADHD, and most of these are going to boys. In other words, what we’re seeing is an unprecedented burgeoning of the diagnosis. And I should say, really, I’m talking about, more broadly speaking, what I would call the destruction of American childhood, because ADD is just a template, or it’s just an example of what’s going on. In fact, according to a recent study published in the States, nearly half of American adolescents now meet some criteria or criteria for mental health disorders. So we’re talking about a massive impact on our children of something in our culture that’s just not being recognized.

...

The normal basis for child development has always been the clan, the tribe, the community, the neighborhood, the extended family. Essentially, post-industrial capitalism has completely destroyed those conditions. People no longer live in communities which are still connected to one another. People don’t work where they live. They don’t shop where they live. The kids don’t go to school, necessarily, where they live. The parents are away most of the day. For the first time in history, children are not spending most of their time around the nurturing adults in their lives. And they’re spending their lives away from the nurturing adults, which is what they need for healthy brain development.

...

In ADD, there’s an essential brain chemical, which is necessary for incentive and motivation, that seems to be lacking. That’s called dopamine. And dopamine is simply an essential life chemical. Without it, there’s no life. Mice in a laboratory who have no dopamine will starve themselves to death, because they have no incentive to eat. Even though they’re hungry, and even though their life is in danger, they will not eat, because there’s no motivation or incentive. So, partly, one way to look at ADD is a massive problem of motivation, because the dopamine is lacking in the brain. Now, the stimulant medications elevate dopamine levels, and these kids are now more motivated. They can focus and pay attention.

However, the assumption underneath giving these kids medications is that what we’re dealing with here is a genetic disorder, and the only way to deal with it is pharmacologically. And if you actually look at how the dopamine levels in a brain develop, if you look at infant monkeys and you measure their dopamine levels, and they’re normal when they’re with their mothers, and when you separate them from mothers, the dopamine levels go down within two or three days.

So, in other words, what we’re doing is we’re correcting a massive social problem that has to do with disconnection in a society and the loss of nurturing, non-stressed parenting, and we’re replacing that chemically. Now, the drugs—the stimulant drugs do seem to work, and a lot of kids are helped by it. The problem is not so much whether they should be used or not; the problem is that 80 percent of the time a kid is prescribed a medication, that’s all that happens. Nobody talks to the family about the family environment. The school makes no attempt to change the school environment. Nobody connects with these kids emotionally. In other words, it’s seen simply as a medical or a behavioral problem, but not as a problem of development.

Daisy pauses to scream a hearty YES!

You see, now, if your spouse or partner, adult spouse or partner, came home from work and didn’t give you the time of day and got on the phone and talked with other people all the time and spent all their time on email talking to other people, your friends wouldn’t say, "You’ve got a behavioral problem. You should try tough love." They’d say you’ve got a relationship problem. But when children act in these ways, we think we have a behavioral problem, we try and control the behaviors. In fact, what they’re showing us is that—my children showed this, as well—is that I had a relationship problem with them. They weren’t connected enough with me and too connected to the peer group. So that’s why they wanted to spend all their time with their peer group. And now we’ve given kids the technology to do that with.

...

...human beings are shaped very early by what happens to them in life. As a matter of fact, they’re shaped already by what happens in uterus. After 9/11, after the World Trade disasters in those terrorist attacks, some women who were pregnant suffered PTSD, post-traumatic stress disorder. And depending on what stage of pregnancy they suffered the PTSD, when they measured their children’s cortisol levels—cortisol being a body stress hormone—at one year of age, those kids had abnormal cortisol levels. In other words, their stress apparatus had been negatively affected by the mother’s stress during pregnancy. Similarly, for example, when I looked at the stress hormone levels of the children of Holocaust survivors with PTSD, the greater the degree of PTSD of the parent, the higher the stress hormone level of the child.

So, how we see the world, whether the world is a hostile or friendly place, whether we have to always do for ourselves and look after others or whether we can actually expect and receive help from the world, whether or not the world is hostile or friendly, and indeed our stress physiology, is very much shaped by those early experiences.

Listen to/read the whole thing; Dr Maté has an overall approach you probably haven't heard before. And I think it helps immeasurably that Dr Maté has ADD himself, and has the necessary inside-understanding to talk about the issues.

His newest book is titled In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction, which I have just ordered from AMAZON.

(Thanks Chaos!)

Happy Halloween!

Photos below are of the Halloween benefit for Dogs For Autism--today at Earth Fare Plaza in Greenville.

It was a fabulous day, with great food, folks and entertainment... even if a bit rainy.



Below: The classic rock band is Ordnance 2110, who don't appear to have their own website. (And after much Googling, I still don't know what the band name refers to!)

The highlight was the dog costume party. The dogs loved it!

My favorite is "Medic dog" with the Red Cross insignia, although the sweetest disposition belonged to "Party Animal"--suitably bedecked in an array of colors.

More photos on my Flickr page.

~*~

The Death of Jett Travolta

John Travolta and his son Jett, from UK Mirror.



As I commented briefly on this thread, I am sometimes alarmed by people in my own profession.

To put it bluntly: Alternative medicine can get wackadoodle as hell. I am considered a somewhat middle-of-the-road sort, since I don't issue blanket criticisms of conventional Western medicine (known as allopathic in alt-med parlance), although I will give major hell to Big Pharm. But certainly, I take thyroid hormone every day, am bloody grateful to get it, and I appreciate the blessing of modern medicine. My problem is with its common abuses, as well as its overwhelming obstinacy concerning the allowance of any other disciplines to take part in healing. I think we have plenty to learn from native herbalists, Ayurveda, yoga, and many other alternative sources/approaches.

Having said all that, of course, I get worried. In fact, plenty worried.

And so, when I heard about the death of Jett Travolta, I took a deep breath. Several, in fact.

Ohhhh, no, I thought. No, no, no.

You know why. Or maybe you don't? In any event, the (UK) Times Online, sure does:

A post-mortem examination determined last night that John Travolta’s chronically ill son died of a seizure, as controversy erupted over the Scientologist actor’s handling of the boy’s medical condition.

According to the family, Jett, 16, suffered a seizure and hit his head on a bathtub at their holiday home in the Bahamas, where he was found dead on Friday.

Glenn Campbell, the assistant director of a local funeral home, said that the body was in “great condition” with no sign of head trauma. He said that the death certificate, based on the post-mortem examination, gave the cause of death as “seizure”

Uh-oh. Seizures.

And this is when I began taking the deep breaths. I could see this coming like a freaking freight train... Seizures usually require, you know, MEDICATION. And the Scientologists don't like medication.

Already, I have read dueling versions of events: yes, they were giving him medication... no, they weren't.

We will likely never find out. Travolta and his spouse, Kelly Preston, already had the body of Jett cremated before entering the USA. There can be no toxicologist report, in that case, to determine if he was taking seizure meds.

The cremation appeared to have been dealt with swiftly, Jett’s body having undergone a post-mortem examination just hours earlier. It concluded that Jett died as the result of a seizure at the family’s luxury holiday home last Friday.

An unconfirmed report on the show-business website TMZ.com claimed yesterday that Jett still had a faint pulse when he was discovered lying in the toilet area of the bathroom, with the door closed. There was “a considerable amount of blood after the resuscitation efforts,” it claimed.

For years, various Hollywood media reports have claimed that Jett had autism, and that the Church of Scientology had it's own particular treatments for this. Some of these (as stated above) are undoubtedly alternative-medicine treatments; I am familiar with most of them. But here it is:

As critics of Scientology questioned Travolta’s handling of his son’s medical condition, Mr Davis stressed that while the Church does not believe in drug treatments for psychological diagnoses, it does not oppose the use of drugs for medical conditions.

Is autism "psychological"?

Does the Church of Scientology believe that it is?

Here is Kevin Libin, writing in the National Post:

One thing the Church might not consider an “ethics breach,” though, is if the Travoltas had refrained from medicating Jett with any drugs he may have required to control a mentally related illness. So far, the nature of Jett’s sickness remains one of the big mysteries surrounding his death: medical experts have disputed the family’s story that the boy suffered from Kawasaki Syndrome, caused (the Travoltas claimed) by environmental pollutants, which others have said was simply a cover story for his autism, a disorder Scientology does not recognize but believes is caused by spiritual disharmony (Scientology, you’ll recall from the Tom Cruise absurdity some years back, dismisses psycho-related illnesses as concoctions by the psychiatric profession—which it unaffectionately calls “an industry of death”). There’s reason to be skeptical: Kawasaki is rarely fatal, seldom affects children older than 8, and isn’t known to cause seizures—though some reports claim the parents did stop medicating for Kawasaki, as the treatments didn’t work—and autism even less so (Jett reportedly had a history of seizures but I can’t find any evidence that autism causes seizures, let alone deadly ones—though I stand ready to be corrected by those who know more about this than I do). (UPDATE: this story suggests autism can cause seizures)

The family’s spokespeople originally insisted the boy had fallen and injured his head on the bathtub. Making things even more mysterious, this doctor—the first, likely, on celebrity reporters' rolodexes since he conducted Anna Nicole Smith's post-mortem—claims that it would take a pathologist weeks to accurately determine a death was caused by seizure. This was no Nassau Medical College graduate making some slap-dash diagnosis: the Travoltas flew in a top medical officer from California. She prepared her report in just a few hours, before the family had the body cremated immediately afterward and flown back to their home in Florida on dad’s private Boeing 707, named after Jett and his sister.

Libin also links to a comment from ex-Scientologist Michael Pattinson, who writes some fascinating stuff about the whole top-secret process that will now kick in, back in Clearwater:

Scientology spokespeople will very likely give out generalized "press releases" through lawyers or PR personnel that will give no real substance for informing the public.

Secondly, the questions that have arisen about whether the anti-drug/anti-pharmaceutical tenets of Scientology might possibly have actually prevented Jett from receiving proper medical treatment or preventative assistance will be downplayed, denied, ridiculed and/or harshly criticized to try to get attention off the issue as fast as possible. This aspect, however, may not just "go away". It is a question of life or death, after all...

Thirdly, the family will very likely go to Clearwater, Florida (or maybe have Scientology professionals come to their Florida home, but this is far less likely) to the Oak Cove building and/or Sandcastle Hotel for what Scientology calls "handlings".

NOTE: They really should get some new nomenclature. Us conspiracy junkies buzz around over-charged terms such as "handlings"; the proverbial moth to the flame.

Okay, what are "handlings"?:

1.Ethics interviews and associated procedures. (Scientology's "Division 1" services.)

This aspect of services would look into the unfortunate and tragic event of Jett's death being a possible result of some kind of personal ethics breach or lack of integrity by the parents. In particular the individual parents would have separate interviews about their own role in the tragedy or how come they "pulled in" (a Scientology ethics jargon term) such an awful situation by something in their own behavior.

The Scientology celebrity ethics officer would also actively look for one or more people in the Travoltas' circle of friends, acquaintances who might be antagonistic to or even anti-Scientology and who could have had sufficient negative influence to "cause" such a tragedy. That person would then be the target of possible disconnection (shunning), firing or lawsuit/fair game. There would be many steps possible for John and Kelly coming out of the "Ethics" handlings, and these could not be predicted here.

***It is worthy of note that the potential question of NOT giving proper or adequate medication would not be considered a Scientology ethics violation due to L.Ron Hubbard's indoctrination to avoid such medical or psychological types of treatment. In fact, the failure to give doctor-recommended drugs or medications to Jett might factually be considered to be a laudable Scientology ethics matter.***

WOW--all you can say to this is WOW! This is looking hairier and hairier.

Some of this information recalls Rolling Stone's amazing article on Scientology back in 2006, wherein several of author Janet Reitman's sources kept backing out and begging for anonymity.

As a confirmed religion/mythology junkie, I tend to give even the flakiest religion the benefit of the doubt... but it was this article that started giving me the major creeps... just because so many people refused to go on the record. (That article is still one of the best and most comprehensive investigations of Scientology that I have found.)

Pattinson continues, describing the upcoming agenda for the Travoltas:

2.Correction interviews and procedural steps (Scientology's "Division 5" services).

These steps, sometimes called "Review" would be services designed to address any failures of John or Kelly (and/or Jett's caretaker, as I believe he is a Scientologist) to have properly applied relevant Scientology technologies to their son or his living situation within the family. Any strictly Scientology-dictated ways of living that are detected as to having been omitted or misapplied would have to be re-studied and drilled till they become second nature.

3.Technical sessions ("auditing") (Scientology's "Division 4" services.)

This would be some very expensive counseling sessions and personal programs designed to remove, if possible, all the negative emotions from this awful tragedy. This can cost up to $1000 an hour. The outcome of this step is varied in its success and can take weeks or months to complete.

Did he say $1000 an hour? Are these the Travolta rates? Do they have a sliding scale for indigent members, or as one of my friends quipped, don't they HAVE any indigent members?

Pattinson adds:

A more cynical prediction: I would also comfortably estimate that Scientology, as an organization, would attempt to get the maximum financial and public relations benefit from this horrible tragedy. It will be interesting to watch how they go about doing this. In any case the organization through its spokespeople will tend to avoid truth, responsibility and facts. It will also use the media without being of any real service to the media. [L. Ron] Hubbard hated journalists almost as much as he hated psychologists, doctors and psychiatrists.

I guess we'll be finding out?

Or maybe we won't.

Stay tuned, sports fans.

Michael Savage: Swine of the month

Left: Michael Savage's book, THE SAVAGE NATION, which I have no intention of reading, or even touching.

~*~

Conservative talk-radio pit-bull Michael Savage is a very interesting person. He used to be a heavy in MY profession, if you can believe it. Yes! Michael Savage, as Michael Weiner, was a flaky lefty herbalist and nutritionist, the author of several well-known homeopathic books. I was stunned when I discovered Weiner was actually Savage. In addition, he used to hang with famous Beats and GAY people (a minority group he now openly despises) like Allen Ginsberg.

He was once a decent person, apparently, or maybe he was just a groupie. Wikipedia informs us:

Savage introduced himself to certain writers in the North Beach area of San Francisco in the early 1970s. He befriended and traveled with Beat poets Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Stephen Schwartz, also an acquaintance of Savage from this time, reported Savage possessed a photograph of himself and Ginsberg swimming naked in Hawaii and used the photograph as sort of a "calling card." Savage maintained a correspondence with Ginsberg consisting of ten letters and a trio of postcards across four years, which is maintained with Ginsberg's papers at Stanford University. One letter asked for Ginsberg and Ferlinghetti to come do a poetry reading, so others could "hear and see and know why I adore your public image." One postcard mentions his desire to photograph Ginsberg in a provocative way, though Savage states that this correspondence is actually a forgery created by gay detractors.

As I said, interesting. In his 1980 book Weiner's Herbal: The Guide to Herb Medicine, he unequivocally stated marijuana had medical benefits, but as a reborn conservative android, dutifully renounced this position, as he has also robotically and predictably turned into a rabid, crazed homophobe.

And now, he hates autistic children, too. 99% of autism is simply SPOILED BRATS, Savage proclaims. Newsday's Carol Polsky reports:

Conservative radio talk show jock Michael Savage used his nationally syndicated show Monday to defend his controversial remarks on autism, even as outraged parents protested outside the Manhattan offices of his broadcaster, calling for his firing.

"My comments about autism were meant to boldly awaken parents and children to the medical community's attempt to label too many children or adults as 'autistic,' Savage wrote on his Web site and read on his broadcast Monday. "Many children are being victimized by being diagnosed with an "illness" which may not exist in all cases. ... Let the truly autistic be treated. Let the falsely diagnosed be free."

The original remarks that stirred the backlash aired on the July 16 broadcast of his show "The Savage Nation," which typically targets the likes of liberals, undocumented immigrants and feminists and has more than 8 million listeners.

On his broadcast, Savage called autism "a fraud, a racket ... In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. ... They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. ... Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.' "

His controversial remarks drove several dozen parents and advocates Monday to protest outside the WOR-710 in Manhattan.

"That isn't just freedom of speech, it is hateful speech when you say 99 percent of children with autism are brats," said Evelyn Ain, whose 8-year-old son has been diagnosed with autism and who organized the demonstration. "I'll tell you, I wish I had a brat."

I hope they tar and feather his right-wing, hateful ass.

Moral of the story: hate and prejudice never stop with just one group. It always, always, always extends to others. If it's okay to hate people for some arbitrary characteristic, then it's okay to hate them all.

Even children. And yes, even those unfortunate kids who don't/can't say anything to anyone.

----------------
Listening to: Foo Fighters - Erase/Replace
via FoxyTunes